Glenrothes 40 International Lightning Tournament

One of the strongest events ever in Scotland was held as part of the 40th anniversary celebrations of the new town of Glenrothes in Fife. Only Dundee 1867, 1967, the Karpov visit and SCA Centenary Tournament in 1984 could compare with the array of chess talent produced for Glenrothes by Tron Marketing.

A visit by two former world champions was an exciting prospect and both grandmasters did not fail to produce the sparkling chess for which they are famed. Despite being in the 'veteran' class, Boris Spassky and Mikhail Tal are still great players. The recently-defected Romanian GM, Mihai Suba, added media interest and strength to the tournament.

The event also brought together Scotland's five top players. It is rare to see IMs Condie, Pritchett, McKay, McNab and Motwani in action together. Which of them would finish top Scot was very difficult to predict.

For the final, a further 4 players were required to be added to the eight previously mentioned. A qualifying Swiss Tournament was held on the friday night and Saturday morning. This, too, was a strong event with 2 IMs, 2 FMs and 2 national masters.

Five players, renowned for their skill at lightning chess, handicapped their chances of qualifying by missing round 1. Walter Buchanan, Andrew Muir, Douglas Bain and Craig Thomson will probably never forgive Douglas Bryson for taking the time to go back for his pyjamas!

Play in the final started at 2 pm on the Saturday after the players were introduced to the audience and welcomed by the Glenrothes Development Corporation's Public relations Officer, Tom Johnston.

Spectators were able to follow most of the games on IBM PCs via david Levy's intelligent chessboards. Each piece sends out a signal registering its position on the special boards. This was particularly useful when games were reaching their climax.

Both Spassky and Tal complained of being much older than the rest. But no-one really believed them, especially since they led at the halfway stage. Tal 9½/11 and Spassky 9.

However, Phil Giulian gave both tremendous problems. He had been Queen for Knight against Tal but failed to spot a sneaky Knight check. He was also Queen and 2 rooks up against Spassky but lost on time. By beating Spassky in the second stage, Phil became the only Scot to beat either of the two ex-champions. The table below shows the final positions.

Glenrothes 40 International Lightning Tournament

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

Pts

1. Tal, M

GM

USSR

■

01

10

11

11

=1

11

11

11

11

11

11

19½

2. Spassky, B

GM

FRA

10

■

11

=0

=1

11

11

11

11

11

01

11

18

3. Suba, M

GM

ROM

01

00

■

=1

00

1=

11

11

11

11

11

11

16

4. Martin, A

IM

ENG

00

=1

=0

■

10

==

1=

10

1=

11

11

11

14

5. McNab, C

IM

SCO

00

=0

11

01

■

00

1=

1=

10

11

11

10

12½

6. Condie, M

IM

SCO

=0

00

0=

==

11

■

=0

1=

10

1=

11

1=

12

7. Motwan, P

IM

SCO

00

00

00

0=

0=

=1

■

11

11

11

10

1=

11

8. Morrison, G

FM

SCO

00

00

00

01

0=

0=

00

■

11

01

11

11

9

9. McKay, R

IM

SCO

00

00

00

0=

01

01

00

00

■

10

11

11

7½

10. Pritchett, C

IM

SCO

00

00

00

00

00

0=

00

10

01

■

01

01

4½

11. Giulian, P

SCO

00

10

00

00

00

00

01

00

00

10

■

10

4

12. Kirk, L

SCO

00

00

00

00

01

0=

0=

00

00

10

01

■

4

At the end of round 21, Tal had 18½ and Spassky 18. By agreement, Spassky and Tal (who were to play each other), delayed their game until the rest were finished. The playing arena was then altered to provide spectators with more space to observe the climax of the tournament.

Tal won an exciting game to win the £3,000 prize and special China & Glass Set and Board supplied by the Buckhaven Parish Church Enterprise.

IM Andrew Martin from Hounslow won the Glenrothes 40 Shield for the highest placed British player.

Both events were ably controlled by International Arbiter David Wallace, assisted by SCA Arbiter Alistair Maxwell.

The total number of spectators was poor - there was only a handful travelling through on the coaches provided from Glasgow. If international events are to be run in Scotland, then chess players must be prepared to support them.

In conclusion, I think that those who turned up thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Immediately after the prizegiving, Paul Motwani, who had memorised the final game, provided the following game score for Scottish Chess.

Phil commented: "Now that I have beaten Spassky nothing else matters." He then proceeded to lose his next 12 games. Phil went into the players' rest room to find the players laughing and talking about him. He asked Andrew Martin, "Was it anything in particular?" Andrew replied, "Yes, twelve things in particular!"